Ok, so I am really excited about starting JUDDD after Medi and I need help calculating what my calorie range should be. I'm actually thinking about doing JUDDD in conjuction with Medi (restricted foods, but with calorie cycling). I am scared to do that though...I don't know why, I just am. I'd really like some input from all of you since you are the ones working this diet every day.

I am:
70 in tall
I weigh 175ish right now and hope to get down to 150.
I am 31 years young.

I work out 3-4 times/week for 60-90 mins at a time. I do pilates, ballet, yoga, barre fitness, hiking, and weight lifting (body pump class).

I did the calculations using:
70 in
160 lbs (a mid range point - might be the point I jump off Medi)
31 years
little to no exercise (that seems to be the advice around here)
25% loss rate

I got 1842 UD, 461 DD.

What do you guys think about that? Does that sound like a good starting point?

I am very worried about DDs. I am the girl that ALWAYS hungry on diets. On HCG, all my friends didn't even have an appetitie...and I was S.T.A.R.V.I.N.G. I was cranky and grumpy, and all I did was think/dream about food. I would have considered eating my hat if it didn't have so much fiber in it. (I think I may have dreamt about it )

I'm doing medi because I needed to: 1) break my addiction to carbs/sugar and 2) have the appetitie suppressants. This is why I almost want to do the two together - since I will have access to the suppressants. (My appetite is one of the reasons I am looking to the Leptin Resistance thing).

I know some of you have upped your DD's to 650-750, but I need to stay at under 500 the first 2 weeks no matter what, though, right?

Thanks for all your help in advance. I know I've said it before, but I love reading your stories and you guys just have a great community here.

I do think this is a good starting point! I am not a pro, but I have been doing this for 3 weeks and I am 1500/500. I do think the 500 cals becomes much easier after the 1st week. Also, I found that journaling my food before I eat, keeps me on goal and helps me on the DD. I am only 5'4" and weigh 20 more lbs.

Just a question, isn't Medi the weight loss liquid diet? I would think if you could do that, you can do this much easier! It will seem like you have died and gone to heaven!

No, it's not the one you are thinking of. I have a restricted food plan, low calorie diet. I would hate anything without real food. The shakes make it easy, but I need to learn how to live in the real world. Plus, I love to cook!

Thanks for your help! I like your idea of journaling. I know that helps me too.

I use ****** and it has helped me every time that I have been in active weight loss mode. I am enjoying this JUDDD method, even though I have a lot more weight to lose. I look forward to seeing your success!

I would try 1900 UD/700 DD to begin. Then, if you are feeling comfortable in a couple of cycles, if you need to, you can try to bump the DD numbers down a touch. It is my opinion that you will need to raise the UD numbers in a couple of weeks. Some of us have discovered that we don't lose if that number is too low.
Good luck!! Hope this helps!

__________________
Lisa

When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top....

I would try 1900 UD/700 DD to begin. Then, if you are feeling comfortable in a couple of cycles, if you need to, you can try to bump the DD numbers down a touch. It is my opinion that you will need to raise the UD numbers in a couple of weeks. Some of us have discovered that we don't lose if that number is too low.
Good luck!! Hope this helps!

That helps a lot. I have a feeling I might need to bump the upper number too (just based on past experience).

My only question to you is - what about the "500 cal" DD requirement for the frist two weeks? Can I do 700 DD the first 2 weeks?

I'm not going to lie, eating that many calories is scary right now - because I'm on the vlcd. I eat very little and sometimes gain...so it's hard to think - eat more, lose more. I see all of your results and I know it can be true, I'm just scared!

Hi DD I'm not so good at helping people out with calories, but your original 1842 seems a little low to me.

Yes, feel free to do higher calorie DD. A number of people worked their way down from higher calories. Some never have to go real low. I think it was Beeb for one, who never did have to lower hers all the way to 500. I started around 700 or so and did go down to 500 but I didn't stay there that long and mostly ate between 550 - 750. Now I go up to 850.

If you notice on the JUDDD calculator, you can change your WL % with that drop-down menu. And there are higher and lower numbers you can use on DD. You don't have to go with the lowest numbers. You can still lose with a higher %. I think I used 30 - 40% most in WLM, and sometimes was up to 45%.

Ease into it. We look forward to your success

__________________
Started JUDDD 10/12/11 after LC.MAINTENANCE since 11/12/11, & have lost more weight. I shake things up all the time with my version of Pirate Jenny's MUDDD, my "Fast 5" & other IF. ...low-moderate fat....and eating "healthy" foods 75+% of the time which lets me have real life and indulgences too I've reached my goals, improved my health & appearance, and enjoy my lifetime woe!

Hi DD I'm not so good at helping people out with calories, but your original 1842 seems a little low to me.

Yes, feel free to do higher calorie DD. A number of people worked their way down from higher calories. Some never have to go real low. I think it was Beeb for one, who never did have to lower hers all the way to 500. I started around 700 or so and did go down to 500 but I didn't stay there that long and mostly ate between 550 - 750. Now I go up to 850.

If you notice on the JUDDD calculator, you can change your WL % with that drop-down menu. And there are higher and lower numbers you can use on DD. You don't have to go with the lowest numbers. You can still lose with a higher %. I think I used 30 - 40% most in WLM, and sometimes was up to 45%.

Ease into it. We look forward to your success

Thank you for the help! I am going to dip my toe in the water and see how it goes. Since I've not eaten much today, I'll make tomorrow my UD. Hmmmm...what to have?

Hi DD I'm not so good at helping people out with calories, but your original 1842 seems a little low to me.

Yes, feel free to do higher calorie DD. A number of people worked their way down from higher calories. Some never have to go real low. I think it was Beeb for one, who never did have to lower hers all the way to 500. I started around 700 or so and did go down to 500 but I didn't stay there that long and mostly ate between 550 - 750. Now I go up to 850.

If you notice on the JUDDD calculator, you can change your WL % with that drop-down menu. And there are higher and lower numbers you can use on DD. You don't have to go with the lowest numbers. You can still lose with a higher %. I think I used 30 - 40% most in WLM, and sometimes was up to 45%.

Ease into it. We look forward to your success

and yes, I never went as low as 500. I started at 700 and most days stayed there or a little below. I do go lower an 500 on some DDs now but that is if I have had too many FDs that are showing on the scale. I started at a % between 40 and 45 and lost very well on that. I suggest you do a little higher UD/DD and see what happens, but please give it at least 2 weeks to see, especially if you see yourself losing, no matter how little.

Funny, but I described myself as dipping my toe into JUDDD at first, too. I think it is still there on my stats. It was only 3 weeks ago, but now I've got my whole leg in and I'm ready to just push off the side of this pool and swim.

I was worried about the 500 calories, too. They were the most challenging the first couple of DDs, after that they got gradually easier. I've been doing 650-700 since finishing induction and have not only been losing inches, but seeing the difference in clothes. I have a lot to lose, so being able to see the difference in the mirror so quickly is impressive.

The most exciting thing (other than the fact that I can see my metabolism getting turned around so quickly) is that I have more energy and am handling the DDs much more easily. Today, the DD was suddenly MUCH easier. I wanted to save most of my calories for the end of the day, because I was going out to dinner. It was SO EASY to make it to 6:00 using only 90 of my calories. I worked with a toddler I'm doing p.t. Nannying with during the middle of the day- that involved cooking and serving lunch. After work I went grocery shopping for a few snack items for UDs, and for some high cacao chocolate to eat a little of on DD's. I had good energy and didn't even think about deviating from my plan because I wasn't weak of hungry at all.

I can't recommend this WOE enough! And by the way, I'm not doing this low carb.

If I had it to do over again, the only thing I would do differently would be to study the DD recipe thread before starting and have ingredients on hand for some of the recipes there. There are some very good ideas. Some of my personal favorites for keeping satisfied on DDs: beef jerky, turkey breakfast sausage links, wasa light rye crackers (30 calories per large cracker) vitamin electrolyte lemonade (15 calories), one square of the chocolate I mentioned above (60 calories per lg square- very satisfying. It is the 72% cacao Swiss chocolate from Trader Joes). If I feel that I'm flagging the lemonade or a dried apricot (about 11 calories) work wonders. A teaspoon of peanut butter can also be a great thing.

Good Luck!!!!! and

__________________I am what I am and I am nothing more (Popeye) And I expect there to be much less of me soon!

Wow! Thank for sharing your experiences with me. They really do make me feel less scared (but yes, I'm still scared). I'm still not sure of my range. I think 650/700 to 1900 for now. I need to figure out my cals for yesterday. Sometimes, ****** is such a PIA for people who like to cook!

I just posted in the sticky about a calorie counter I like, because I too like to cook! It is the caloriecount.about.com recipe calculator (go to Foods, then New Recipe). It's a lot easier than the others I've used because you don't have to search for each ingredient individually - you just type or paste your ingredients into one big box and it parses them for you. Sometimes it gets confused but it's still a lot easier to just tweak the one or two ingredients it didn't "get"!

I agree that ****** makes you "create foods". I started so long ago that I have saved every meal known to me! I have heard a lot of good about caloriecount.com, so I will try and check this out today. The main thing that helps me is to check into it at the end of the week and look at my trends on UD and DD. If I quit losing, I will definitely go back and tweak UD cals.

Good luck DD80! I know the scary feeling, because I felt very apprehensive at first, but after your first week of weighing, you will see what all of the hoopla is about!

I just posted in the sticky about a calorie counter I like, because I too like to cook! It is the caloriecount.about.com recipe calculator (go to Foods, then New Recipe). It's a lot easier than the others I've used because you don't have to search for each ingredient individually - you just type or paste your ingredients into one big box and it parses them for you. Sometimes it gets confused but it's still a lot easier to just tweak the one or two ingredients it didn't "get"!

Thanks! It makes me laugh everytime I look at it.

I'm going to check out that calorie counter. Thanks for the recommendation! I have WW and I love their tracker, but points aren't all that helpful right now since they aren't really related to calories anymore. I love that they have a recipe builder, where I can plug in all the foods, hit the number of servings and it saves it indefintely so I can use it over and over. I wish they would tell me the calories!